


this means war

by herewestand



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Animals AU, Dog daniel, Interspecies, M/M, Pet au, cat seongwu, cats are crazy, silliness, stuffed toy minhyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-02-28 19:03:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18762541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herewestand/pseuds/herewestand
Summary: seongwu's worst nightmare came to life when his humans got a new family member.





	1. Chapter 1

Seongwu was a russian blue indoor cat. 

That meant he did not go outdoors. _Not ever._

Not that there was ever a reason to. Afterall, why should he want to go outside? Everything he could want was right there indoors. He had his toys to play with and his catnip when he wanted it. He had his humans to pet his pretty fur and cuddle him when he wanted to cuddle. 

He had his foodbowl, which was always full. It was filled with delicious crunchy stuff and he could have it whenever he wanted. Plus, in the evenings, the human with the long hair would pop open one of those delightful cans and there was always something delicious inside. It was soft and wet and smelled heavenly. They put it on a plate and served it to him with a nuzzle behind his ears and a ‘Good Kitty’ and then afterwards, he and the four humans who served him would go into the room with the couch and they would watch the box with moving pictures. Seongwu could pick any warm lap he wanted and the human’s clever hands would pet him to his heart’s content.

During the day, they all went away and left the whole house for him to play in. There were a dozen rooms full of hiding spots and napping places and wonderful things to play with. His favorite thing was a stuffed orange fox named MinMin. The tallest girl child had given it to him to have for his very own and he treasured it. He carried it everywhere he went and slept curled up with it in his soft bed. The only time MinMin was not with him was when the longhaired human took him away to wash. She would put his toy in a big white thing that made horrible noises and his poor toy would come out all wet. Then she would put his MinMin in another white box with a round window on the front of it. He would sit there and watch MinMin tumble around and around and around until he got dizzy and had to lie down.

And then finally, finally she would give him back his MinMin, all clean and sweet smelling and then Seongwu would promptly mess him up again.

He didn’t mean to, it just happened. Because you see, Seongwu was a male cat. And male cats needed to do _certain things_ , sometimes. He was a very good cat, very smart and he knew not to do it on the human’s things. His father had warned him where that path led and Seongwu wanted none of it. 

So whenever he felt the need, he would lay MinMin down and climb on top of the soft plushie and rub himself against it until he felt relief. The inanimate orange fox was perfect, its fur was so soft and he was just big enough that Seongwu could wrap his paws around it and hold him still until he was done rubbing against him. And so, MinMin would get dirty. And since he did it several times a week, near the end of the month, the human would notice and take his little stuffed fox away to clean. But she always brought him back.

Seongwu smiled and nuzzled his little toy happily. His human were good humans. He loved them the most and did his best to do everything he could for them. When the little ones were sad, he would curl up with them and cuddle them until they smiled. He never left them alone when they cried, not even when the littlest one had blown her nose in her hands and wiped them on his pretty blue-grey fur. And when the big one’s feet were cold, he would curl his hot furry body around them and get them all warm and toasty. 

And he never, ever EVER let any bugs or lizards or rodents in the house. _Not ever._ He didn’t have any claws, but he had teeth, sharp little teeth and quick paws that he used to nab any little intruder that dared disturb his home which he would then carry and present to the longhaired human in thanks for the delicious squishie food she gave him every night.

Seongwu had the perfect life indoors. So he didn’t want to go outside.

Sometimes it was pretty out there. On nice days, he liked to sit on the back of the couch and watch the goings on in the yard. There were brightly colored birds that would come to the feeder and the puffy clouds would pass by in a blue sky and the green grass looked very soft. But other days, water would fall from the sky!

WATER. From the SKY!

And sometimes, it just came out of nowhere! There was nothing that terrified Seongwu more than water. He hated the cold slippery stuff. It was horrid and nasty and once you got it on you, it was nearly impossible to get it back off. And sometimes the water was followed by bright flashes of light and giant booming noises that made him want to hide under the bed until it was over. Occasionally, the water would turn into white puffy things that would fall from the sky and cover the ground in terrible wet COLD stuff that hurt his delicate pink paws just to touch it.

Also, there were the other animals. Seongwu was afraid of them for one simple reason; they had claws and he didn’t. 

Every single animal; the raccoons, the possums, even the blasted squirrels had sharp little claws they could use to defend themselves. Seongwu had nothing but his teeth. And that was good enough against little things…. but big things? They would tear him apart with their sharp little claws before Seongwu would even get close enough to bite them. The other animals terrified him.

No, the outdoors was nice to watch from the window, but Seongwu wanted nothing to do with it. He felt safe and sound indoors and that’s where he would stay.

But one day everything changed.

One day Seongwu was awoken from his nap by a loud crash. His bright green eyes opened and his pointy ears perked up, turning in the direction of the sound. It was the middle of the day so it was odd for the humans to be home. Even stranger, it came from the back of the house. The humans always came in the front of the house. So, with trepidation, Seongwu went to investigate.

The noise came from the last room on the right. That was the big human’s room. The tiny grey cat peered inside the room. There was a man inside. A stranger! 

He was dressed all in black and even wore black over his face with holes in the covering where his eyes would be. Seongwu didn’t know what to make of that. He had never seen a human wear a covering over his face. He cocked his head in confusion but then the human began to open drawers. He grabbed things and threw them on the floor. He grabbed a box on the dresser and emptied it into his sack and then threw the glass box on the floor with a loud crash. He snickered in laughter and then broke the mirror too. 

Seongwu arched his back, his fur standing on end. That didn’t belong to him! He had no right to break Seongwu’s human’s things. No right at all. He bared his tiny sharp teeth and hissed loudly in warning. _Go away! Go away now!_

The bad human looked over at him and laughed, “Whatcha gonna do pretty kitty? Run along now and you won’t get hurt. I’m not here for you.”

Seongwu’s green eyes narrowed. No. This was his house. His home. He was an intruder from the outside and he didn’t belong here. Seongwu bared his sharp teeth threatening and ran towards him with no other plan than to bite him until he went away. The last thing the cat saw was a giant black boot coming towards his face as the burglar kicked him viciously, sending his small body smashing against the wall.

-

Seongwu whimpered in pain. There were soft hands on his body lifting him and caressing him gently. His green eyes flickered open. His family was there. They were all there. They were ok. He mewled weakly in relief and fingers came down to rub the top of his head and pet his back.

“It's okay, Seongwu, you’re ok. You just got out of surgery and everything is going to be ok. We’re taking you home now.”

Seongwu felt himself placed in a soft bed and gently carried him away from the clinic. He had been to the vet before. He didn’t like it there so he was glad to be leaving. He faded in and out of consciousness on the car ride home, which was good because Seongwu didn’t care much for cars either. Too claustrophobic. Car rides made his stomach feel funny. He slept until they carried him into the house and placed him on the foot of their bed. That wasn’t where he usually slept but he didn’t mind. He felt so awful and it felt nice to know that his humans were nearby.

“Here you go sweet boy, here’s your MinMin.” His toy fox was tucked into the soft bed next to him and he mewled pitifully in thanks as strong fingers rubbed behind his ears.

The bed shifted a little side to side as the humans climbed into it and settled themselves. The room was dark and quiet. He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard her speak.

“I’m scared.”

“I know darling, but it was just things. Things we can replace. And Seongwu is going to be alright. The doctor said it was just a couple of ribs. He’ll be back to his usual happy self in no time. I’m just glad no one else got hurt.”

“But that's what scares me. What he did to that poor defenseless little kitten? What kind of a monster can do something like that? And what if one of the girls had come home from school early, what would he have done to them?”

Seongwu startled and he heard the husband take a sharp breath inwards at the terrifying thought, but she continued, “This house was supposed to be our safe place. Our sanctuary, our home. And now, all I can think about is how some stranger just came in here and defiled it. How do we keep it from happening again? How do we protect ourselves?”

She began to cry and Seongwu heard the man make soothing noises to her, “It's going to be ok. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to get an alarm system installed. Top of the line. And a guard dog. A strong and well trained dog. One that will protect this family and tear apart anyone who tries to hurt us.”

Seongwu heard her weeping slow and quietly the humans fell asleep. The beautiful cat was wide awake. _A dog?! They were going to get a dog? One of those vicious animals with giant fangs and long claws that liked to chase cats?_

Suddenly it felt like his whole world was falling apart around him.


	2. Chapter 2

When the dog arrived, Seongwu spent the whole day on top of the bookcase.

It took some doing to get up there, but it was the safest place he could think of. Even the tallest human could hardly reach him up there. He hid behind the silk flower arrangement and watched his doom come.

Each thud of his heavy paw and clack of his claws on the hardwood floor sent chills up Seongwu’s spine.

He was a big, giant beast of a dog that stood three times as tall as Seongwu. His fur was white and his paws were almost as big as Seongwu’s head. He had enormous sharp teeth and claws. His claws were trimmed a little, blunted at the tips, but they were still very threatening looking to the cat. 

Seongwu's eyes were wide with terror and he sat as still as he could, hiding behind the flowers as the dog’s brown eyes sharply surveyed the room, missing nothing until finally, finally, they settled on the top of the bookshelf. Seongwu held his breath as those almond brown eyes examined him intensely. The fur on his back stood straight on end.

This was it. He was about to die. It was surely, the end of the world.

The crazy thing was that the humans he loved had done this to him. How could they have betrayed him like this? And worst of all, they seemed to be HAPPY about it!

The longhaired human swept her arms open to display the house, “Daniel, welcome to your new home! Girls, come meet your new dog!”

The little humans came out screeching and excited, petting the giant fanged beast as if he were some sort of harmless toy to be played with. _GET BACK!_ Seongwu wanted to shout, _he’ll kill you all!!_

But the giant dog didn’t. He just stood there smiling and wagging his tail and let them do as they pleased, even when the youngest one sneezed on him and pulled his hair. Seongwu shuddered. He knew what that felt like. He had to admit he was surprised when the dog didn’t bite her right then and there. He was smart. Tricky. He was luring them into a false sense of security and the moment they gave him an opening… he would attack! Seongwu wasn’t fooled at all. No sir.

The dog rolled over in playful submission and the girls squealed with excitement, petting him and lavishing kisses on him. Seongwu’s eyes glowed green with envy. Those were HIS kisses. HIS humans.

The husband walked over and came to stand directly in front of the bookcase while he spoke in a low voice to his wife, “Daniel was a Samoyed and used to live in the streets when he was young until he got adopted by a veteran who used to train military dogs. Sadly, his old owner passed away and no one would like to take him in so the neighbors gave him to the dog pound. Anyway, Daniel came highly recommended when I told them our situation. He is well-trained, smart, strong and apparently good with kids." 

The female’s eyes glowed with tears as she watched the dog play gently with the girls, “He’s perfect, dear, just perfect!”

Seongwu snorted. Likely story. That vicious beast might fool them, but he wasn’t fooling Seongwu, no sir, not one little bit. His bluegreen eyes narrowed suspiciously as he peered down over the edge of the bookcase. Brown eyes smiled up at him and he ducked back down behind the flowers. Hmmph.

-

The moment Daniel saw those stunning eyes stare fearfully at him and that pale lithe body jump down from that tall bookcase, he was _obsessed._ The cat moved like nothing he had ever seen before, graceful and slender, jumping from such a great height and landing weightlessly on the back of the couch on tiny nimble paws.

He had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.

Daniel lived in the streets among others of his own kind when he was just a pup. Strong, tough, hardy animals. Rough and tough. Fortunately, he was rescued by his previous owner who trained him in combat, controlled aggressiveness and how to neutralize threats. His old man was one of those who couldn't get the military in their system despite their retirement so his days with the old man was mostly about training. Daniel didn't mind. He liked being active and his old man would give him meat if he did well which was always. When his old man died, Daniel thought that one of the neighbors would take him to his new family. Next thing he knew, he was caged in a home for abandoned animals. 

His old owner always told him that good boys always get the best rewards so during his time in the shelter, he made sure to show how behaved he was when humans came in. But despite his perfect behavior, no one adopted him because his massive size intimated the humans until his new owner came in.

His duties were to protect his humans. But unlike his old owner, the humans he protected were much smaller and softer. They smelled good and they laughed and played with him. He had never had anyone just play with him before, with no apparent purpose. But the little females just played with him. They threw a ball and he would fetch it endlessly. He couldn’t see the point personally, but they seemed to like it so he obliged them. His least favorite game was when they made him over. The bows and barrettes always pulled at his fur. But he allowed it because the brushing felt so good. They would brush his white fur until it crackled. They kept him clean and smelling good, which was strange, because no one had ever seemed to particularly care if he was clean before. His old owner hated bathing himself anyway. 

Oh and the other new thing was the food…. lord the food. He knew if he wasn’t careful he would soon become quite fat. He was allowed as much as he wanted, whenever he wanted. And the humans were always handing him other strange and delicious things to eat. They introduced Daniel to something called bacon…. oh bacon. It made his mouth water just to think about it.

Daniel was pretty obsessed with bacon, almost as much as the cat.

He quickly acclimated to his new world and came to understand and love it. The only thing he could not figure out was the cat. Everytime he saw him, he couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Everything about Seongwu fascinated him. He was so VERY beautiful.

And in truth, that seemed to be the cat’s only purpose. He had never actually seen him DO much of anything, other than look pretty.

But Daniel decided that was ok, because he was so, sooo pretty.

To Daniel’s eyes, the delicate grey-coated cat looked like an angel. A tiny little angel. He was like nothing he had ever seen before. He loved the way Seongwu moved, so graceful and limber. The way his lovely tail curled protectively about his beautiful little body when he slept. He loved the way those bluegreen eyes sparkled when he played or pounced on his toys. He loved how he stretched, arching his back and thrusting his round little bottom in the air. Every time Seongwu bathed, Daniel was utterly transfixed, watching the perfect pink little tongue dart in and out and groom his pristine grey fur, cleaning off even the smallest imaginary dust and lint. He even liked watching him eat, so daintily, picking out the bits of food he liked and crunching them with his sharp white teeth. Occasionally he would get close enough to smell the cat too. His scent was musky with just a hint of sweet cinnamon. _Intoxicating._ Sometimes he would creep into the bedroom where he slept at the foot of the human’s bed and sniff the place where he had laid. The strength of the scent there made Daniel’s head spin. He loved the way Seongwu sounded when he was happy and purring, the deep humming sound from inside his tiny chest was so beautiful to him.

Daniel loved that cat from the tips of his teeny tiny paws to his sweet button nose, long graceful whiskers and adorable pointed ears.

There was just one problem; the cat couldn’t stand him.

Every single time he tried to come near Seongwu, he would dart instantly away with a flick of his pretty tail. He had tried and tried, but the cat’s hearing was just as good as his and he always heard him, no matter how quietly Daniel tried to sneak up on him. He didn’t want to hurt him, he just wanted to pet him. See if he could make him purr. Just once, he wanted to feel that soft fluffy fur under his paw. It looked so silky. But he wasn’t able to get within five feet of him without the prickly kitten running away as fast as he could go. And he was very _fast._

And of course, the more Seongwu ran, the more Daniel wanted to chase him.

But he knew that would not go over so well. Not only would it make the cat like him even less, if that were possible, but it would likely upset the humans too and Daniel didn't want to do that. They were very nice to him. And of course, there was the bacon to think of.

The dog knew he had to find another way to fulfill his mission. New family or not, he was still his old man's little soldier and one thing Daniel knew very well was strategy. That one must study their opponent carefully in order to conquer them. If you only know yourself, and not your enemy, you will never truly win. He knew he couldn’t get close to the cat by force, no, that would never work. Somehow he was going to have to lure the pretty feline to him.

So Daniel watched and he waited, waiting and watching for an opening, for some tiny thing he could use to obtain what he had already decided to have. He studied the cat like a problem to be solved. And he would solve it. Eventually.

There were things Seongwu disliked intensely. It was a short list but at the top of it was water and the outdoors. Seongwu never, ever went outside. He did not like to be pushed down on his back and have his stomach exposed. Which was strange because Daniel loved to have his own belly rubbed by the humans, but Seongwu seemed to really hate it. He also hated loud noises. Loud noises and explosions didn’t bother Daniel much but the poor kitten was so terrorized by the fireworks on New Year's eve that he hid for three days straight under the bed.

But there was one thing he noticed that Seongwu hated more than anything and that was to be ignored. Not that he was always particularly receptive to attention either. He did not like to be forcefully picked up or petted, but if one of the humans sat quietly and paid attention to something other than Seongwu for too long... sure enough the kitten would come slinking over. He would position himself between the human and whatever they were paying attention to, whether it be the moving picture box or a book or the typing thing. And if the human didn’t turn its attention to him immediately, he would start nudging them, looking for affection.

Daniel desperately wanted Seongwu to nudge HIM for affection.

So instead of following him around and watching him all the time, Daniel then tried his best to ignore him.

He was really bad at it.

Everytime he lost track of the cat it made him utterly nervous. He knew logically that the cat never left the house and that he was perfectly safe, but of all his charges, Seongwu was the most helpless, with his soft clawless paws and his tiny teeth and so he felt compelled to keep an extra close eye on him. And also, the more he ignored him, the happier it seemed to make the cat and well! That just irritated Daniel to no end.

So he gave up on that plan quite quickly and continued to watch for a way to gain the kitten’s trust.

Seongwu liked treats, he liked meat and especially fish. He loved to lay down in the warm sunshine and he loved to hide in small spaces. He loved to be petted and to have his pretty fur stroked gently and to be scratched behind the ears. And he loved toys. It amused Daniel endlessly when he would pretend to stalk the little human’s stuffed toys and pounce on them. He LOVED crumpled paper and whenever he found some he would take it and play with it for hours, fascinated by the crinkly noise it made. Sometimes the humans would take a feather on the end of a string and wave it about in front of him. Seongwu would start out trying to play it cool and disinterested but Daniel could see the gleam in his pretty aquamarine eyes, the desire to chase it and before long he would be twisting and somersaulting through the air trying to catch the feather.

That was when Daniel learned something important; the pretty cat liked to chase things too.

He filed that handy piece of information away to use later.

There was one toy though that Seongwu loved more than any other. He took it everywhere with him, he even slept with it. It was a small orange stuffed fox named MinMin.

Seongwu loved it.

So naturally, Daniel _hated_ it.

He hated it even more when he realized just how much Seongwu REALLY loved it. Daniel was transfixed the first time he saw the cat mount it; placing it between his tiny grey legs and rubbing himself back and forth against its back until the he was satisfied. It was the most turned on Daniel had ever been as he spied on the cat rutting against its toy. The soft, needy, mewling noises Seongwu made in his throat were music to Daniel’s ears. Even better than the purring.

Daniel now wanted to make him make THOSE noises even more than he wanted to make him purr.

And then as the large dog jealously watched the small cat cradling his toy affectionately afterward, cleaning it gently with that small pink tongue and sleeping with it trustingly, he wanted to take that toy away from him more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. He wanted to shred it with his teeth into tiny bits of fluff until nothing was left. But then Seongwu would really hate him. Daniel clenched his jaws together in frustration and paced back and forth as he thought.

But then his intelligent brown eyes gleamed and Daniel smirked.

He could use this.

He had finally found Seongwu’s weakness.

 

-

Seongwu languished happily with his MinMin. Life was really starting to feel normal again.

Having a dog around really wasn’t such a bad thing after all. Other than the 'creepy staring and following him about' bit, he had really never done anything bad at all. He had tried to touch him and sneak up on him a few times, but then Seongwu always heard him coming so that wasn’t such a challenge to overcome, and after a couple dozen tries, he had given up completely. In fact, Seongwu felt he was likely rather soft in the head. But with him around, no other animals came anywhere near the yard. Daniel made sure of it. He patrolled the borders several times an hour.

Seongwu felt much safer in the house as well, and the humans felt better too, having such a large strong dog to protect them.

Seongwu wasn’t sure he would be much good in a fight considering that Daniel had been living there for weeks and hadn’t been able to catch him once and Seongwu knew he wanted to. But his appearance certainly made up for any other shortcomings. He was large and strong. No intruder would come into their house with a dog like Daniel standing watch. Seongwu snuggled happily into his stuffed toy, feeling very safe and secure.

But then he heard a metallic popping sound from the kitchen and Seongwu flew towards it eagerly. _Dinner!_ But he stopped at soon as he saw the dog at the other end of the kitchen. The human was scooping Daniel’s dinner into a large bowl. Seongwu’s was already arranged on a plate at the other end of the kitchen. Seongwu refused to eat if his plate was too near the dog’s. Couldn’t keep an eye on him. He warily began to eat his food, daintily, carefully, with his bluegreen eyes constantly flicking up towards the dog. The beast ate in big bites and his food was quickly gone. Usually he stayed and watched Seongwu eat his food, but this time he didn’t. This time, he disappeared as soon as he was done eating. In fact, Daniel stayed away after dinner too when all the humans gathered together and watched the moving pictures. Seongwu didn’t particularly mind. More laps and petting for him afterall.

Seongwu didn’t notice that anything was amiss until he stretched and yawned wide and decided it was time for bed. He had slept with the humans ever since the intruder had come. Even with Daniel around, he still felt safer with them. He hopped gracefully up onto the big fluffy bed. The big fluffy bed where he had left MinMin hours earlier. The big fluffy bed that was now _empty._

 _Where was MinMin?_ Seongwu looked around. The little orange fox wasn’t in the room.

He jumped down to the floor and looked curiously under the bed.

Nope.

Although it was quite filthy, the grey feline wrinkled his nose and backed out. The urge to bathe himself was strong but he stamped it down. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to find MinMin. Perhaps one of the girls had taken him?

He pawed through their rooms looking through all the stuffed animals but no MinMin. _Perhaps the long haired human had taken him to wash?_ He looked in the laundry room, but the noisy white boxes were empty and silent. No MinMin. Seongwu began to get worried and circled round the house again, looking everywhere. He was gone, it was like he had materialized into thin air. Seongwu fought the urge to panic and made another round through the house. His favorite toy was still gone.

But then he noticed something else as missing too.

The dog.

Daniel was nowhere to be found either.

Which wasn’t particularly unusual, he usually slept outside. It was the strangest thing to Seongwu but he seemed to actually LIKE it out there. The humans had even built him a house to sleep in and ever since then, once everyone went to bed, Daniel slipped outside and slept in it.

Seongwu jumped up on the back of the sofa and peered out into the dusky twilight. The trees were black against the purplish blue sky. Everything was dark. He could hardly make out the shapes with the bright lights of the house behind him. But his keen almond shaped eyes slowly adjusted and he could see another dark shape. The dog slowly moved forward out of the shadows and from his teeth dangled a familiar dark shape. A tiny orange fox. Seongwu gasped and pressed his pink paws up against the window. _MinMin!!!_

The dog’s evil brown eyes smiled at him and he waved Seongwu's toy at him tauntingly before turning his back and disappearing into the doghouse with his prisoner.

Seongwu yowled in horrified, helpless frustration.

That bastard Daniel had kidnapped his MinMin! That was his toy! HIS! And that stupid dog couldn’t have it. He was going to get it back. And when he did, he’d have his revenge.

Seongwu’s eyes narrowed sharply as he looked outside the window.

_Oh yes, this meant war._


	3. Chapter 3

Seongwu was hiding.

He had scooted the dog’s water bowl into position and now he was ready and waiting. Every so often his tail twitched impatiently. He snuggled deeper into his camouflage of bread and bananas, aquamarine eyes glittering. Soon his prey would come and he would pounce. The little grey cat had a plan. He was going to make that dog’s life so miserable; Daniel would never again consider taking something of his. By the end of the week, the beast would come to him whimpering and begging him to take MinMin back. Seongwu smirked triumphantly to himself as he waited.

Finally, the dog came lumbering into the kitchen looking for his water bowl. Of course, Seongwu had scooted it across the floor into position under his hiding spot, but Daniel didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. He calmly lowered his great head and began to drink from the bowl. Seongwu’s body scrunched up in preparation. He only had one shot at this, he had to get it right. His aim had to be perfect. Silently and gracefully, Seongwu launched himself into the air, like a tiny grey ninja.

With all four feet outstretched, he landed perfectly on top of the dog’s big head, pushing his face down into his waterbowl with a great big splash that sloshed the liquid over the sides and all over the floor. Before Daniel could blink, he had jumped off his head and was darting out of the kitchen as fast as his little legs could go. Seongwu ran into the living room and climbed the bookcase frantically, fully expecting the dog to give chase with fur and fangs flying.

But nothing happened.

Seongwu waited and waited and the dog slowly came out of the kitchen, his face dripping wet, little droplets of water trailing behind his chin onto the carpet. He blinked up at Seongwu, his eyes glimmering with amusement. _Wait, what?!_

Amusement!!!!

Daniel thought this was funny?! Seongwu had just gotten his face wet. With real WATER. On his FACE!

It was the absolute worst thing Seongwu could imagine doing to anyone, the absolute worst.

If getting that horrid, cold, slippery stuff on someone’s face on PURPOSE wasn’t a declaration of war, Seongwu did not know what was. He watched the dog calmly wipe his muzzle on the carpet, side to side and then lay down to take a nap. He was wholly and completely unfazed.

Seongwu dropped his head onto his tiny paws in disappointment. He had been so SURE that would work! But then again the dog was rather strange. Things that bothered Seongwu terribly didn’t bother him at all. Who knew, maybe the dumb dog even liked water. The thought was utterly absurd, but not unthinkable. After all, the humans voluntarily got wet each and every night. The cat supposed he would just have to try harder then. What would make the dog mad?

He couldn’t think of anything. Daniel didn’t seem to be bothered by anything at all. Not bright lights or loud noises or the outdoors or water or getting his tail pulled by the little humans or anything! _Hmmph._

Seongwu lay on top of the bookcase glumly, his pretty aquamarine eyes focused on the doghouse outside where his friend was being held captive. He couldn't just waltz out there, into the dog’s house and take MinMin back. The dog would never allow that. And plus, then that plan meant Seongwu would have to go outside and just no. No, somehow he had to make the dog give his MinMin back. He had to make him absolutely miserable until he gave in. But how could he do that? Daniel had no weaknesses.

But…. the dog had things he liked too, that Seongwu could take away. He didn’t seem to have any attachments to toys like Seongwu did, but the dog loved food. Bluegreen eyes glimmered mischievously. Seongwu had a new plan.

-

He looked left. He looked right.

Seongwu’s pretty little ears twitched side to side, searching for any hint that someone might be approaching. He heard nothing and so he raised his right leg and released with a sigh of satisfaction. Usually he went to the bathroom in the litter box. It was ok, got rid of the smell and allowed him to cover up his shame, but he hated how the sandy stuff clung to his paws. This, however, was much more satisfying. Seongwu peed all over the dog’s kibble in his bowl and then walked away primly, quite proud of himself.

Let’s see Daniel keep his cool over THAT.

Now all he had to do was find a safe spot to wait until the dog got hungry.

He didn’t have to wait long. Daniel ate pretty often. He was a big dog and he spent a lot of time running around so he tended to work up a pretty good appetite.

Sure enough, about an hour later Seongwu was awoken from his nap on top of the refrigerator to the click- click- click of Daniel’s nails on the floor. The large dog took long gulps of water and then turned to his large red foodbowl. And stopped. He sniffed it and recoiled with a disgusted expression on his face. Seongwu snickered to himself when he did it again, checking it a second time, as if the first hadn’t been enough. _Ha!_ When the dog turned away the second time Seongwu’s heart rose victoriously. He had won! All he had to do was keep messing with Daniel’s food and soon enough he would get so hungry he would have to surrender MinMin.

But then Daniel did something most unexpected. He walked right up to the small blue bowl on the other side of the kitchen labelled ‘Seongwu’.

The grey cat leaned over, watching him in disbelief. No. He wouldn’t. _He couldn’t!_

_No. No. No!_

_That was not allowed._

That bowl said ‘Seongwu’ on it. Right there in big letters. That was HIS bowl. HIS food. Daniel wasn’t allowed to do that! That was against the rules!!! You could only eat out of the bowl with your name on it. The longhaired human had said so! It wasn’t fair, it just wasn’t FAAAAIR!!!

Poor Seongwu watched in dismay as the dog finished off every last bite of his food. And then, to add insult to injury, he _licked_ it! He licked his bowl clean and got dog slobber all over the bottom of it. _Eeewwwwww._ The cat wrinkled his little pink nose in disgust. After Daniel finished defiling Seongwu’s poor, innocent foodbowl, he trotted off without so much as a glance at the enraged cat on top of the refrigerator.

Seongwu was fuming. Steam was practically pouring out of his ears.

He was starting to realize that if he wanted to win this war, he was going to have to start playing dirty.

_Really dirty._

-

The shoe was nearly as big as he was. It was brown leather with a tall heel and Seongwu distinctly remembered his longhaired human saying that they pinched her toes last time she wore them, so Seongwu felt rather sure she wouldn’t be too upset by the loss of them, only the principle of the thing.

They were very hard to chew, but Seongwu did his best to mess them up. Took him nearly an hour. He chewed and he chewed and he gnawed on them until his little jaws hurt. But finally, finally they were a mangled mess with teeth marks all over them. Seongwu felt quite proud. He then took the heel to the spot in front of the couch where Daniel liked to sit and dropped the shoe there. As soon as the humans came home, someone was bound to notice it. And no one would suspect the cat, no, they would immediately blame the dog. Seongwu snickered to himself happily.

Now Daniel was really going to get it! Just wait!

Sure enough as soon as she got home she saw her mangled shoe on the floor in front of the couch and swept towards it, picking it up and peering at it with an upset expression on her face. For a moment, Seongwu felt really bad, he loved her, he wouldn’t want to make her sad… she didn’t like those shoes, she said so! But then she scowled and bellowed, “Daniel!!!!!” And Seongwu was back to feeling happy again.

The large dog came quickly and sat smartly in front of her, his posture was perfect like a soldier giving a salute.

She frowned down at him waving the heel in front of his face, “Did you chew my shoe?”

Daniel looked at her with regretful, sad eyes and her hardened expression immediately faded, “Oh well, I suppose it's my fault. Dogs like to chew and I never did give you anything to chew, did I big boy? Well, I’ll forgive you just this once ok? Now don’t do it again.”

Daniel nodded in understanding and she smiled, reaching into her purse and pulling out a large rawhide and handed it to him. Daniel’s tail began wagging and he licked her hand in thanks before taking it gently and laying down to chew on it.

Seongwu was watching from his perch on the back of the couch; utterly aghast at how horribly wrong his devious plan had gone.

_No! She was supposed to be mad! She was supposed to yell at him and kick him out of the house, not give him treats!!!_ He stamped his little grey paw in frustrated anger and Daniel’s brown eyes glowed in amusement. The cat glared at the dog furiously. _This was not over, not by a long shot!_ She said she would forgive him, just this once, she had said.

Well, shoes came in pairs and what would happen if he did it AGAIN?

This time for sure, he would get him good.

-

He didn’t even wait until the next day, no, Seongwu immediately went back in the closet to get the other shoe and started attacking it in anger. He was just so MAD. Nothing he did was working. He was helpless; he couldn’t hurt Daniel, couldn’t make him mad, couldn’t even make the humans mad AT him! The dog had come here, invaded his space, taken his toy, eaten his food and he couldn’t do ANYTHING about it. Seongwu’s sharp teeth ripped the leather shoe apart savagely, getting only minor satisfaction from the destruction of the inanimate object.

Stupid Daniel. With his stupid hair and his stupid eyes and his stupid muscles.

The humans thought he was so cool. They thought he was such a good dog. He had fooled them all. Well, Seongwu wasn’t fooled. He was the only one that saw him for what he was. Bad, through and through. Seongwu would expose him for what he was and then he would be punished. Granted, Daniel hadn’t actually chewed any shoes, but he had done other bad things he deserved to be punished for. Like eating Seongwu’s food and stealing his toy. He deserved what was coming to him, every bit of it.

Seongwu was so wrapped up in his dark thoughts, he didn’t even notice the humans come into the bedroom until it was too late.

He glanced up in horror at the longhaired human with the mangled shoe in his paws.

She looked down at him with an expression of shock and betrayal on her face, “Seongwu? It was you?”

The poor cat wished the ground would just swallow him up, then and there. His life was over. He didn’t want to live anymore. Daniel could have it all, his toys, his foodbowl, everything, if only he could take it back.

Her face clouded with anger, “Seongwu, how could you?!”

Seongwu cowered on the ground. Wincing at her angry words. They stabbed him in the heart. He had never made her mad before. Never. He felt horrible.

She picked up the shoe and shook it at him angrily, “I give you lots of toys and treats and everything. Why would you do this?”

Seongwu shrunk down as low as he could go. He felt so, so awful. All of his earlier anger was gone, leaving behind only a cold, empty feeling inside him. He looked up with tears in his eyes. He was sorry; so, so sorry. The lovely feline’s jewel like eyes were big and shiny and pleading.

She scowled at him, “Oh no mister, that won’t work on me, no sir! You get out of my closet right this minute!”

He ran from the closet obediently and hopped up on the bed. She chased him off, clapping her hands loudly and chasing him out of the room. The loud noise terrified him, just as much as her anger.

She slammed the bedroom door behind him angrily, “And stay out!!!!”

Seongwu stared at the door hopefully, maybe in a few minutes, she would forgive him and let him back in. He didn’t want to sleep alone! He wanted to sleep with his humans! He didn’t even have his MinMin to keep him company. Surely she didn’t expect him to sleep alone, did she?

He waited patiently by the door. Long minute after long minute passed and all he heard was silence. Finally, his slender shoulders slumped dejectedly and he decided she really wasn’t coming back. He slunk down the hall to see if perhaps one of the girls had left their doors open and maybe he could hop in bed with one of them. Both of their doors were closed and their rooms were silent. Now Seongwu was really beginning to get worried. And to make matters worse, he could hear a storm beginning outside. The pitter-patter of rain on the windows. Seongwu hopped up on the back of the couch and looked out the window. It was coming.

The flashes of light and the loud booms. They were coming to get him. He needed to get under the bed now or something terrible was sure to happen!

Seongwu flew back down the hall, his heart in his throat. He pawed at the door to remind them that he was out here and needed to be let in now.

A great big boom rang out and the whole house felt like it was shaking. Seongwu trembled and pawed at the door desperately making the door bounce against the frame loudly. His heart begged, _please let me in! Oh pleasepleasepleasepleeeeeease!_

The man’s sleepy voice hollered at him, “Quit it you stupid cat! Its just thunder! Go away!”

The cat couldn’t have been more hurt than if he had been kicked. They had never yelled at him before. They had never told him to go away. And he had called him stupid. A stupid cat.

Seongwu’s aquamarine eyes filled with hurt tears and he began to cry. _Stupid cat._ Thats all he was now. Now they had a dog and Seongwu was nothing. He was useless.

Nothing but a stupid, useless cat.

The booms and the flashes of light were coming. But what did it matter? His humans didn’t love him anymore. Let them come and take him away. He was just a stupid cat. Nobody would miss him anyway.

Seongwu tucked himself in the corner between the wall and the sofa and began to cry. Harder and harder he sobbed. Tears streamed from his beautiful eyes and soaked the pale fur of his cheeks. With each boom of thunder, Seongwu cried out in fear, mewling and whimpering in terror between his sobs until suddenly he noticed an enormous shadow come out of the darkened room in front of him. Brown beady eyes were narrowed on him.

For a moment, his tears were stopped by pure sheer terror and his breath caught in his throat in a hitched, frantic sob.

He was _cornered._

There was no escape. The dog had been biding his time, waiting for this moment, to get Seongwu alone and helpless and now he was surely going to have his payback for all the mean pranks Seongwu had pulled on him. The feline curled into a small quivering ball and began to cry again. He could feel the monster’s hot breath on his neck. The jaws of doom were about to close on his tiny body. This was it. It was over. Daniel was going to kill him.

But then the oddest thing happened and, as usual, Daniel did the last thing Seongwu expected him to do. He wedged his big body in between the sofa and the wall and created more space. Enough for him to curl his great body around Seongwu’s and then he began gently, tenderly licking the salty tears from the cat’s sad face.

Seongwu stared up at him in confusion. Wasn’t he mad? Seongwu had splashed water in his face and peed in his food bowl and tried to get him in trouble with the humans... Why wasn’t Daniel mad at him? The dog cleaned his face and Seongwu made a move to pull away. A large paw quickly came down on top of him, pinning him down in place, tucked up against Daniel's chest and Seongwu mewled helplessly as those terrible claws pressed against him. The dog could kill him in an instant, if he wanted to, snap his bones like twigs beneath those giant paws.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t let him go, but he gently stroked him, his claws moving through Seongwu’s fur in the most wonderful way, scratching him in favorite spot at the nape of his neck. The dog’s muscular body felt so warm and powerful. And as Seongwu slowly realized he was not about to die, he realized how very nice it felt to be held by him.He was so big and strong. The bright lights and booming noises didn’t seem nearly as frightening with Daniel with him. Daniel was tough and he wasn’t afraid of anything. And rather than being mean to him, he was protecting him, just like he protected the humans.

Seongwu still didn’t understand why Daniel had taken MinMin away from him. But suddenly, it didn’t seem to matter quite so much. The calm thud-thud-thud of the dog’s heartbeat in his powerful chest soothed Seongwu's raw nerves. He was so warm. Even warmer than his favorite sunny spot on the back of the couch. And this time he didn’t have to worry about falling off. That happened occasionally, when Seongwu got really relaxed and it was always very embarrassing. Seongwu snuggled closer to Daniel unconsciously. The poor cat was exhausted from his terrifying ordeal and he slowly fell asleep under the dog’s paw. Rather than feeling crushing or oppressive, the weight felt soothing, comforting. With every boom of thunder, that great paw soothed away his terrified shudders until they were no more. Without even realizing it, Seongwu began to purr. His tiny chest vibrated in a low, continuous, murmuring sound of contentment as Daniel kept watch over him, all through the dark and stormy night.


End file.
